Effective communication of ideas is often characterized by collaborating parties working close together. However, participants in conventional meeting scenarios are often hindered by having to take unnatural steps to achieve simple forms of collaboration. For example, audience members listening to a presentation may have to copy down a file name or URL to get a speaker's slides, or wait for the slides to be sent in e-mail after the presentation, which means that audience members have to give their e-mail addresses to the speaker or another organization. Telephone conference calls are a limited way in which participants can exchange ideas and information. Remote participants may have to ask for and copy down a Networking IP address to obtain documents or give their e-mail addresses to other participants. Also, a remote participant listening in on a conference call via a cell phone who would like to transition to a higher-quality landline telephone has to dial a long set of conference codes a second time and listen to distracting prompts.
Conventional methods and system for getting devices to recognize each other include sending passcodes, direct entry of IP addresses, physically connecting devices with cables, Universal Plug and Play, and using USB storage devices that contain configuration information just to name a few. All of these conventional methods and systems require user intervention that distracts participants from the presentation, require preparation time, and increase participant frustration. In other words, conventional methods and systems for getting devices to communicate in a collaborative setting do not mirror the natural trust relationship shared by people engaged in verbal communication. It is desirable to have methods and systems enabling devices used by collaborating participants to establish communications with limited participant effort.